 "Moving out of Delhi not to effect DD's revenues")
Even if Delhi Daredevils decides to move its camp out of Feroz Shah Kotla, it's unlikely to affect the franchisee's revenues anyway feel experts. This is due to IPL's pan-India popularity.
An executive of Knight Riders Sports, which runs the Kolkata Knight Riders franchisee, claims that the team was as popular playing its matches outside Eden Gardens. "The footfalls were unbelievable, playing outside Kolkata was not a hindrance at all," he said.
Other franchisees like Kings XI and Rajasthan Royals played their matches outside their home city. Experts point out that teams of the tournament now have fan base all over the country.
"IPL is now a national property, the players are national or international icons, audience will follow whereever they play," said a media expert who refused to be identified as a decision is yet to be taken.
The GMR-run sports franchisee though strictly denied of any plans of moving out of Delhi but made it clear that they have asked BCCI and DDCA for clarification over the confusions surrounding the stadium. "We are very clear that we don't want to move out from Delhi, which is our home city, but simultaneously we have asked BCCI to let us know if Kotla does not get clearance to host any matches of IPL," said a spokesperson of GMR.
Delhi High Court on Friday declined to grant Provisional Occupancy Certificate (POC) for hosting the second T20 between India and Sri Lanka forcing the BCCI to shift the match to Ranchi. According to media reports, the board has given a deadline to DDCA to get all clearances by Sunday.
Kings XI played some league stage matches in Pune and made moremoney there then they would have in Mohali, their original home. Sources say Kings XI made Rs 9.74 crore from ticket sales from three games in Pune. In contrast, the highest-ever generated from ticket sales for a Mohali game is only Rs 1.4 crore. Pune is closer to Mumbai and the stadium can seat 39,000 spectators compared to Mohali's 27,000 capacity.
The Rajasthan Royals too have benefited enormously by deciding to move out ofJaipur. The Motera in Ahmedabad, their new base, has a capacity of 48,000 compared to Jaipur's 23,000. The Royals have also played a few 'home' games in Mumbai's Brabourne stadium.
